Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The other “traditional faction” of the Anglican Communion heads for Rome

Not all those who desire that the Anglican Communion should remain to its traditional doctrines and practices are necessarily taking their stance based on Biblical principles. While one faction of the “traditional wing” of the Anglican communion opted for their own separate spiritual retreat in Jerusalem under the leadership of Dr Peter Akinola of Nigeria, another prominent faction is actively negotiating to be absorbed into the Roman catholic Church. Going by the embarrassing spates of homosexual and often paedophilic practices currently being resolved in the courts in the USA involving top brasses of the Roman Catholic Church, it is clear that the abominableness of homosexuality is a minor point with this other “traditional wing”. In fact the main issue is the ordination of female Bishops.
Reporting on the secret “talks that some believe may presage a mass return of Anglicans to the Catholic fold”, the Sunday Telegraph quoted an Anglican bishop as saying "There can be no future for Christianity in Europe without Rome." In 1992, a large number of Anglican ministers had applied to become Catholics on the condition that Rome would create a provision to retain the traditional Anglican style of worship. Even though some “Anglican Use” catholic parishes were established in the US, the episcopate of the Catholic Church of England and Wales obstructed the solution insisting that “converts would only be accepted individually, not en masse, and there would be no provision made for the retention of 500 year-old Anglican liturgical traditions” (LIFESITENEWS.com,July 7, 2008).
However, Pope Benedict XVI before his election, was known to be a strong supporter of the Anglican traditionalists; and it is expected that things might be different this time around. Reuters reported on July 8 that the Vatican “strongly criticized” the Church of England’s plan to ordain women bishops while The New York Times of the same day wrote that as many as 1,300 Anglican clergy members said they were prepared to leave the church rather than accept women as bishops.

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